Tavern Vinegar Co. is a new Columbus-based artisan vinegar business and a joint venture between Cleveland chef Jonathon Sawyer and Columbus’ Middle West Spirits, makers of Oyo vodkas, bourbon and other spirits.

Sawyer is the recipes and Middle West is the production. The restaurateur has been making his own vinegar from his house for seven years. It’s the only vinegar he uses in his Cleveland restaurants, which include the Greenhouse Tavern and Noodlecat.

Konya said Sawyer’s restaurants were some of the first in the state to stock Oyo spirits and Middle West’s sales director got the two sides to meet several years ago and discuss taking Sawyer’s vinegar operation from his basement to bigger scale.

“At the end of our first meeting, I knew I wanted to put my vinegar into their barrels,” Sawyer said.

They aged test batches in both Cleveland and Columbus.

“We were super happy with the results,” he said.

Konya described the product as single origin, single varietal, barrel-aged vinegar. There are two avenues of business – wholesaling to restaurants and bars and straight retail to customers through independent grocery stores and specialty shops. Distribution is handled by Columbus-based Eat Well Distribution. The retail products are 200 ml flask-style bottles. Prices are $9.99 or $12.99 depending on the variety. Future specialty short-run vinegars will be $18.99. It also can be purchased online.

The initial launch includes seven styles such as Craft Beer Vinegar using Middle West’s sour beer mash made from Ohio red winter wheat and is aged in oak bourbon barrels for a year; a Stout Beer Vinegar, which uses Tommyknocker Stout beer from Colorado and is aged 14 months in oak whiskey barrels; and Rose Wine Vinegar, crafted from a blend of rose wines and fermented 14 months in French oak barrels.

Sawyer said they’re on the front end of a craft vinegar movement.

“I look at it like charcuterie or cheesemaking,” Sawyer said. “Years ago, it was more intimidating, but more info is getting out there and more people will start doing it.”

Konya said artisan vinegar ties in to the craft beer and microdistillery niches. As those segments continue to grow, the entrepreneurs in those business will look for different ways to ply their expertise, just as Middle West is doing.

“This allows us to innovate and express our creativity in a category that’s much more flexible than spirits,” Konya said.